Recent advances in the design and evaluation of behavioral and biobehavioral interventions include the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) and the Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology (BCIO). Inspired by engineering, MOST is a framework for development, optimization, and evaluation of behavioral interventions, where optimization is defined as the process of identifying the intervention that provides the highest expected level of effectiveness obtainable within key constraints imposed by the need for efficiency, economy, and/or scalability. Part of the Human Behaviour Change Project, the BCIO is a set of definitions for entities and relationships used to describe behaviour change interventions, their contexts, effects and evaluations. Development of the BCIO is ongoing and has involved a combination of reviewing, refining and extending existing relevant ontologies and taxonomies (such as the Behaviour Change Techniques Taxonomy (BCTTv1)), consultation with ontology experts, and peer review from, and discussions with, international behaviour change experts. In this webinar, Dr. Linda Collins, a developer of MOST, and Dr. Susan Michie, a lead investigator for the Human Behaviour Change Project and BCIO, will outline the ways in which elements of BCIO complement the MOST framework and how behavioural scientists can incorporate principles from both frameworks/ontologies into their work.

Susan Michie is Professor of Health Psychology and Director of the Centre for Behaviour Change at University College London, UK. Susan’s research focuses on developing the science of behaviour change interventions and applying behavioural science to interventions to improve health and environmental sustainability. She works with a wide range of disciplines, practitioners and policy-makers and holds grants from a large number of organisations including the Wellcome Trust, National Institute of Health Research, Economic and Social Research Council and Cancer Research UK. Susan studied Experimental Psychology at Oxford University, obtaining a BA in 1976, and a DPhil in Developmental Psychology in 1982. She studied Clinical Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, London University, obtaining an MPhil in 1978. She is a chartered clinical and health psychologist, and elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Academy of Social Sciences, the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, the European Health Psychology Society, the British Psychological Society and a Distinguished International Affiliate of the American Psychological Association.

Linda Collins is Distinguished Professor of Human Development and Family Studies and Professor of Statistics at Penn State University. Dr. Collins is also the Director of the Penn State Methodology Center. She is a methodologist and intervention scientist. Her research interests are in the optimization of behavioral, biobehavioral, biomedical, and educational interventions, experimental design for applications in behavioral science, and modeling longitudinal data. She is the primary developer of the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) for optimization of behavioral and biobehavioral interventions, and has worked in both prevention and treatment across multiple disciplines. Linda studied Psychology at the University of Connecticut, obtaining a BA in 1977, and studied Quantitative Psychology at the University of Southern California, obtaining a PhD in 1983. She is an elected Fellow of the Society for Prevention Research, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, the Association for Psychological Science, and the American Psychological Association. On September 1, 2020, Dr. Collins will join the faculty of the College of Global Public Health at New York University.